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Sunday, 27 May 2018

Egypt Game – the Battle of Al Flat-ula

Today marked the culmination of several month’s work on the French and British in Egypt projects as the two armies met on the tabletop. The scenario was a pretty simple one, the background of which is:

On 1 July 1798 Bonaparte led an invasion force to Egypt, landing at Marabout, west of the city of Alexandria. Two days later the French captured the city. They then occupied Rosetta on 8 July and advanced on Cairo, taking that city on 22 July. Bonaparte then undertook an unsuccessful expedition to Syria returning to Egypt in the middle of 1799. Bonaparte left Egypt in August of that year, leaving Kléber in command, but when Kléber was assassinated command passed to Menou.

The British, fearing that a French presence in Egypt might undermine their influence in India sought to oust the French and in March 1801 a British expeditionary force under Sir Ralph Abercromby landed at Abukir Bay. Two sharp British victories followed and the French defenders retired on Alexandria. Abercromby left a force to besiege the city while he, with the main force, moved on Cairo.

The plan was to move to Rosetta on the Nile and follow the river up to Cairo, but when a French force was reported to be moving directly on Alexandria, the army diverted to meet them.

The march across the desert was difficult and, since both armies lacked suitable equipment to transport water, the various oases enroute became critical.

On April 14 both armies approached the oasis at Al Flat-ula.

Note that in the text above, the italic texts indicates where the alternative history that is our fictious battle starts.

The Terrain

Both sides marched on the table from diagonally opposite ends of the table: French bottom right, British top left.

The lead elements were 600mm on the table, in column of march.

Objective

The object of the game of to control the oasis at the end of the game.

The British forces (in order of march):

11th Light Dragoons (1 stand mounted) – detached from cavalry brigade

Stuart’s Brigade

Major General John Stuart

Watteville’s Regiment

De Roll’s Regiment

13th Foot

90th Foot

1 6lb gun (attached)

Unattached

Major General Ralph Abercromby (CinC)

11th Light Dragoons (2 stands dismounted)

12th Light Dragoons (2 stands dismounted)

1 12lb gun (attached)

1st Marines

2nd Marines

Cavalry Brigade

Brigadier General Finch

8th Light Dragoons (2 stands)

12th Light Dragoons (1 stand mounted)

Hompesch Hussars

The Guards Brigade

Major General Ludlow

1/Coldstream Guards

1/3rd Foot Guards

1 6lb gun (attached)

Moore’s Brigade

Sir John Moore

23rd Foot

28th Foot

42nd Foot

58th Foot

Corsican Rangers (Rifle Armed)

1 12lb gun (attached)

Note: Unattached troops could count as being in command if within 300mm of the Abercrombie, otherwise counted no general commanding.

The French Forces (in order of march)

Cavalry Brigade

General de Brigade Murat

3rd Dragoons

7th Hussars

22nd Chasseurs a cheval

1 horse battery

4th Division

General de Division Friant

Brigade

General de Brigade Robin

85th Demi Brigade de Ligne (3 battalions)

88th Demi Brigade de Ligne (3 battalions

1 light artillery battery

Unattached

General de Division Menou (CinC)

Dromedary mounted infantry (note cannot fight mounted)

3 field batteries

Brigade

General de Brigade Baudot

Combined (22nd and 4th) Demi Brigade Léger (3 battalions)

75th Demi Brigade de Ligne (3 battalions)

1 light artillery battery

Note: Unattached troops could count as being in command if within 300mm of the Menou, otherwise counted no general commanding

Rule Differences for this game

Unit Sizes

• All units are three stands strong, unless stated otherwise in the orders of battle.

Movement

• There is no road movement

• All hills and slopes are classed as rough terrain

• Without horses the British artillery are being drawn by hand so must move at the same rate as infantry in line

Firing

• The French light batteries were small (sometimes only two guns) so will always re-roll hits.

Since the action will take place in desert terrain the effect of sand on round shot bounce for field and heavy batteries is deemed to limit artillery effect (there is absolutely no scientific evidence for this, it just seems reasonable):

• ALL targets beyond 700mm will re-roll hits

• ALL roundshot when firing too or from higher ground

And so the game...

In the distance the British column, with Stuart's Brigade leading, can be seen approaching Al Flat-ula.

The French cavalry approach from the diagonally opposite direction.

As the main British column arrived, Stuart made for the ground between the village and the oasis, while the marines and dismounted dragoons moved to occupy the village. The cavalry and the Guards moved to the right with Moore's brigade in the centre, with the Corsican Rangers holding the estreme right.

The French cavalry rode quickly forward to take position close to the oasis. Robin's brigade is taking the high ground on the French right, while Baudot's Brigade moved form on the French left.

The British cavalry take position in the centre, but become a target for the French horse artillery and suffer badly.

The Brirish lines formed, although the artillery lagged far behind.

Meanwhile the Dromedary troops took possession of oasis with the cavalry and artillery in support.

The British strengthened their lines.

And the marines and dismounted light dragoons took position in the village, facing Robin's imposing lines, while Baudot formed a seemingly unstoppable mass on the French left (on the right below).

In the hope of driving off Baudot, the Guards, the 58th Regiment and the Corsicans attacked (their advance can be seen at the top of the image below).

Baudot's Légére demi brigade drove back the Corsicans and 3rd Foot Guards, but failed to break them, while the 75th Demi-brigade de Bataille (below) routed the Coldstreams and the 58th and then broke through onto the 28th foot and a 12lb battery, breaking them too.

The 75th Demi Brigade attempted to press forward against the British artillery, but they took fire from the Black Watch and the Coldstreams, that had halted their rout.

The 75th were repelled and when the Black Watch charged they dispersed.

The rest of Baudot's brigade drove back the 3rd Foot Guards and the Corsicans, but took such heavy losses that their brigade morale failed and they too dispersed.

The French cavalry prepared to invervene.

The 3rd Dragoons charged and came within a whisker of breaking the 28th Line, but were driven back.

Meanwhile in front of the village the dismounted light dragoons and the marines were attacked by the 88th Demi-brigade. After an extended fire fight the British got the better of the action and the French were driven off.

In a final desperate attack the 83rd Demi-brigade attacked between the village and the oasis, in the upper ground below, while the 7th Hussars prepared to attack the Black Watch.

Despite having the advantage in their favour, the 88th was repulsed.

And eventually broken by the marines advancing from the village. The attack of the hussars came to naught.

Both sides had suffers serious losses. Only a few units remained intact on each side. The French dromidaries, supported by the artillery still controlled the oasis, but the British held the village and had more units on hand. An honourable draw was called.

Thanks Aly. It was hugely satisfying to see them all on the table. I can tell you being on the receiving end of one of those columns they were bloody terrifying! We really thought it was all over at one point when one third of our commznd was put to flight by those columns...but they just ran out of steam

Thanks Stew. It is always good when at the end of the game everyone has participated and can claim a bit of a victory even if their command didn't make it right through the battle.

The cloth goes back a while now, but it was a standard golden sand colour to which some patches of different darker and lighter tones were added by spraying. In truth the cloth is a little light in weight, which is why it bunches and folds a bit more than usual. A heavier weight felt would probably have been a better choice of material, but it is what it is.

Absolutely gorgeous figures! You've recreated beautifully this exotic setting for a Napoleonic game. If I were to ever start Napoleonic again, I think this (or Wellington in India) would be my choice ...

Thanks Anthony it was a fun game. There are a whole bunch more units now and I hope they will make it onto the table again in September. The rules are homegrown and can are available on the blog under Free Stuff in the blog header. The rules and the quick reference handbooks are there.

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About Me

I have been involved in historical wargaming since 1972, co-founding the Auckland Wargaming Club in 1974 and was for 15 years involved in the "industry" in a business that eventually became Battlefront Miniatures.
My main focus is on the mid-19th Century and I now collect in only two scales: 28mm for all land based gaming and 1:600 for mid-19th century naval gaming.
My philosophy for gaming is:
- Play games with people whose company I enjoy
- The game must be true to the period
- The games must be visually attractive – both the armies and terrain
- The end result doesn’t matter - games must be fun.